Effectiveness of fluoxetine to control fur-chewing behaviour in the chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera)

GALEANO M.G.; RUIZ R.D.; FIOL DE CUNEO M; PONZIO M.F.

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Gainesville, Florida; Año: 2013 vol. 146 p. 112 - 112

p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 200%;">Due to its complexity and the relative lack of scientific reports, fur-chewing may be considered as one of the most challenging behavioural problems common to captive chinchillas. The development of this behaviour in commercial farms and the increasing popularity of this species as a pet have increased the public demands for a treatment. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effectiveness of fluoxetine to control the development of chinchillas’ fur-chewing behaviour, using an oral dose of 10 mg/kg/day for a 90 days treatment period. For the measurement of the fur-chewing affected area and its variation during treatment as external sign of whethe